ABOUT THE MATCHUPFriday night’s matchup will be the sixth meeting in the the series between Columbia and Lafayette that dates back to the 2006-07 season. The Leopards have won each of the last three meetings by an average of just 3.6 points.

COLUMBIA’S STATUSThe Lions opened the 2013-14 campaign with a thrilling 62-59 victory at LIU Brooklyn on Nov. 8. First-year Carolyn Binder started her collegiate career off in exceptional fashion, posting 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting. The Lions played their first home game on Sunday, Nov. 10, and despite staying within five points for much of the second half, San Francisco pulled away late for an 83-69 win.

LAFAYETTE’S STATUSThe Leopards picked up a pair of close victories to begin the season last week. Hosting Rider on Nov. 8, Lafayette notched a 67-62 victory and then traveled to Brown on Nov. 10, edging the Bears, 70-69. The Leopards were led offensively by Emily Homan who scored 21 points in each contest, earning her Patriot League Player of the Week honors.

NEW ERA

Stephanie Glance was named the sixth head coach in Columbia women’s basketball history on April 1, 2013. Coach Glance began her Columbia career with a thrilling 62-59 defeat of LIU Brooklyn. Glance joins Traci Waites as the only two coaches to win their first game as the floor general of the Lions.

HANDLE WITH CARE

Through two games, Columbia ranks second in the Ancient Eight in assist-to-turnover ratio with a plus-two margin. Strong point guard play from Taylor Ward and Sara Mead, who both rank in the top-10 in the conference in assists has contributed to the clean play of the Lions.

FROM DOWNTOWN

The deep ball has been a point of pride for Columbia through two games, connecting on 31.4 percent of its attempts, the third best mark in the Ivy League. First-year Carolyn Binder ranks eighth in the conference, hitting on 6-of-11 attempts, while Miwa Tachibana is 11th, connecting on 4-of-11 from downtown.

CAN’T MISS, WON’T MISS

Senior Courtney Bradford was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field for 11 points against San Francisco last Sunday, the best shooting percentage of any Lion this season.

IMMEDIATE IMPACT

Each of the Lions five first-years have seen playing time through the first two games of the season.

Carolyn Binder hit the collegiate scene with a spectacular 28-point performance in the Lions’ 62-59 defeat of LIU Brooklyn and then followed that up with eight points against San Francisco. For her efforts she was named to the Ivy League Honor Roll on Nov. 11.

Tori Oliver has been a member of the starting lineup in each of the first two games, contributing 5.5 points and four rebounds per game.

Devon Roeper has made her presence known down low, collecting nine rebounds through the first two contest, while also hitting 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.